Say It Again
by mypatronusishogwarts
Summary: A oneshot based on the staircase scene of The Cursed Child. Scorbus.


**I'm not sure how I feel about this - angsty Scorpius makes me sad. My poor child. In other news, I'm toying with a multi-chapter Scorbus - would anyone read it?**

 **Reviews make me happier than a Niffler in mud!**

 **I own nothing, JK owns my life.**

Scorpius pulled himself to his feet, flattening himself against the wall to allow Madam Hooch to pass. His legs felt like lead weights, and he nearly tripped down the stairs as he began yet again to wander with no specific destination in mind. Ever since Albus had turned his back on him after their adventure with the Time Turner, he had been almost completely alone. Albus was in Gryffindor now and Scorpius had not escaped the gossip – even in this world, he was still rumoured to be Voldemort's son, so naturally he seemed to repel friendship or even civil conversations, apparently.

They hadn't done enough – they had changed the future, but not the past. Cedric had still won the Tournament and been killed. And now, Scorpius reflected as he turned along a corridor at random, they were even worse off than before – stuck in a different future with no way of returning to their own world and his friendship with Albus in tatters.

He almost smiled at his unconscious use of the word 'friendship'. As if he didn't spend every day struggling with feelings that were definitely more than that.

A group of second year students hurried past him in a tight knot, shooting him uneasy glances and whispering hurriedly. The ache in his heart grew stronger, and he sped up, rounding a corner and jogging up a flight of stairs. He'd never known loneliness like this. As a child, he had accepted his isolation as normal, but after the years of friendship with Albus, to be alone like this was painful.

"Cheer up," shouted a portrait merrily, "it might never happen!"

"Already has," muttered Scorpius under his breath, head down.

Lost in his own world, he was thinking of making his way to the Owlery when he suddenly collided with something that said "Ooof!" as they both bounced backwards. Grabbing the bannister to regain his balance, he looked up with his mouth open ready to apologise. Instead he froze at the sight of Albus looking down at him with an incomprehensible expression on his face.

"Scorpius," breathed Albus, at the same time as Scorpius squeaked "Albus!"

There was a brief, loaded silence as both boys gazed at each other, unsure of how to bridge the gaping distance that had grown between them. It seemed a very long time ago that they had shared every moment of their lives; the weeks spent apart could have been months, or even years.

Albus was the first to break the silence.

"How are you, Scorpius?" he said uneasily, tension betrayed in his stiff posture and oddly polite tone.

His heart thudding, Scorpius opened his mouth to return a customary "Fine, and you?" or a "I'm okay thank you Albus, how are you?", but somewhere between his brain and his mouth, the words twisted into something entirely different: "I miss our world."

Typical.

He felt rather than saw Albus draw in a sharp breath, emotions flickering over his carefully composed face. "Scorpius… you can't keep thinking about that. This is our world now. We messed up, and now we have to accept that and learn to get on in this world."

He turned to walk away up the staircase, and Scorpius scrambled to find a convincing argument.

"Albus, we need to put this right – we can't just pretend that it's always been this way! What about Rose? We can't just leave her in… well, non-existence, can we?"

Albus paused, head turned slightly to the side, and Scorpius saw him flinch slightly. "I forgot" said Albus quietly, "it would be Rose that you're worried about, wouldn't it?"

Before Scorpius had fully processed what Albus had just said, Albus was already walking away, saying in an oddly constrained voice "Anyway, I shouldn't be talking to you."

Scorpius stepped up onto the next stair, trying to think of something – anything – that would make Albus stay. "Don't leave- please! Albus- Albus, please- I want to be more than your friend!"

Well, that wasn't what he'd meant to say.

Albus froze, and Scorpius' heart leapt against his ribs as the other boy turned slowly. "Say it again."

"I don't want you to flirt with Delphi, I want you to flirt with me. Well, ideally I'd like you to do more than flirt with me, but you know, I'll take flirting for now, we can work up to the rest, well we can if you want to, I mean _I_ want to, but…" Scorpius' nervous rambling trailed off as he watched the blank surprise in Albus' eyes turn into something unreadable. He looked away and took a deep breath, feeling his hands shaking, and rubbed his arms to try and calm them.

There was a long pause. A portrait started to say something and was quickly hushed by its neighbour. Scorpius' discomfort increased as he suddenly felt the curious eyes of the surrounding portraits fixed on him and Albus.

Albus walked hesitantly back down the staircase until he stood only two steps above Scorpius. "Look at me, Scorpius."

Only the use of his name could have made Scorpius look up to meet Albus' eyes, where he was faced with a gaze filled with emotion; lost and hopeful, all at once. "That's not what you said the first time. Say it again."

"I- " Scorpius gulped, suddenly aware of the immense pressure riding on this moment. "I- want to be more than your friend. I like you as more than a friend. At least, I think I do. No, I know I do. I think?"

Albus stared steadily at him, and Scorpius took a deep breath. "I want to be more than your friend, Albus."

The time that passed could have been seconds, hours or weeks. Finally, just as Scorpius was preparing to curl into a ball and quietly implode, Albus cleared his throat. "Sorry, I just- what about Rose?"

"What about her?" Scorpius said, thrown off guard.

"Well, you've spent four years trying to ask her out. You like Rose," said Albus looking at a spot somewhere to the left of Scorpius' head and speaking with a deliberately flat, careful voice that didn't sound like Albus.

Scorpius reached out, not entirely sure of his intentions but reaching towards Albus, only to lose his nerve and rest his hand on the bannister. "Albus, I think I'd know if I liked Rose that way. I don't."

At this, Albus looked sharply at him, the piercing green eyes that haunted Scorpius' thoughts now cutting into him, challenging him.

"Delphi said… well she told me that we belonged together, and that you needed me, and- "

"Wait a moment," Albus interrupted. " _Delphi_ said this to you?"

Scorpius suddenly felt his insides turn to ice. "I'm sorry, I know you have a thing for her, I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought… you might want to… never mind."

He felt a hot flush rising to his cheeks and started to kick his toe against the stair he was standing on. _Why did I say that? I really need to work on my word filter._ Just then, he was taken by surprise as he heard a muffled laugh. Confused, he looked up again to see Albus shaking with suppressed laughter. Actually shaking. Bewildered, Scorpius watched as Albus stepped down to Scorpius' level, still quietly chucking.

"You really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?" Scorpius asked, absolutely clueless about what he was supposedly missing.

"How I feel about you."

Scorpius' heart stopped. "How… how you… feel. About me."

Albus took a shaky breath and smiled slightly, a vulnerable yet honest smile that made Scorpius' chest ache. He gripped the bannister more tightly, holding on as if his life depended on it. Maybe it did.

"Yes," admitted Albus, a pink flush rising on his cheeks as he glanced down at his feet, looking as though he wanted to sink through the floor. "I… it's not just you, Scorpius. I've really missed you."

He looked up to meet Scorpius' eyes, and the intensity took Scorpius by surprise. "Like… really missed you. I can't believe it took a different universe for me to realise... that… well, you know."

"I can," offered Scorpius weakly. "You've never been very good with feelings."

Albus' face cracked into a grin and he shoved Scorpius' shoulder, almost pushing him off balance.

"And you're some sort of feelings expert?"

"Of course I am," grinned Scorpius. "Ask anyone."

Albus' earlier statement suddenly registered with his slightly befuddled brain. "You thought I liked Rose? As in, liked liked?"

"Well- yeah," muttered Albus, looking away and scuffing his toe against a well-worn stair. "Ever since you first met her and she walked away, you've done nothing but try to get her to like you. Why else would you have put up with years of being called Bread Head?"

As realisation dawned, Scorpius' face split into a wide smile that was probably inappropriate for the situation. Oh well.

"I never liked her that way, you idiot! I just wanted her to like me because she's your cousin, and I thought it would be better if we were at least civil!"

Albus looked sharply at him, a muddle of puzzlement, amusement, relief and something else in the green eyes that were once again starting to shine. "Oh. Well. If only I'd known that a bit sooner."

There was a moment of silence between the two boys, as different from the tense stillness of earlier as could be, before they both broke out into matching broad grins, feeling immeasurably lighter and warmer than they had done in weeks. Scorpius felt as though he had just eaten a small army of Chocolate Frogs which were now leaping every which way in his stomach, but as he looked up at Albus, he found that he didn't mind at all. In fact, it was quite possibly the best thing he'd ever felt.

By silent mutual consent, the two boys started down the staircase, naturally falling into step beside each other, both flicking sly smiles at each other but neither wanting to be the first to speak.

"So," said Scorpius suddenly, "where do we stand on that whole friendship or more thing? Because, you know, it's better to be clear about these things."

Albus let out a short bark of laughter. "That's the kind of conversation that I can't have on an empty stomach. It is time for lunch, you know."

Scorpius opened his mouth to protest but his stomach beat him to it, growling so loudly that a portrait of a curly haired witch tutted and shook her head. "Maybe you're right. After all, you did just practically declare your undying love for me – I suppose that'll do for now."

The look that Albus fixed him with filled Scorpius with a tingling that spread from his chest out to his fingers and seemed to numb his feet. Which is how he ended up sprawled on a stone landing, having just slipped down the last three steps, with Albus howling with laughter above him.

"That," he said, trying to sound indignant, "was not funny." Fighting to keep a straight face, he reached out a hand for Albus to pull him to his feet, who was still bent double laughing.

"You're right," said Albus weakly, wiping his eyes and taking Scorpius' hand to help him up, "it was hilarious."

Scorpius made a mock-horrified face and they set off down the staircase, Albus reminding Scorpius to walk carefully and hooting with laughter while Scorpius pretended to sulk.

Albus still hadn't let go of Scorpius' hand.


End file.
